"I can't believe you broke your hand." Josie looked at my arm with wide eyes.

"Apparently when you punch someone you can fracture your knuckles." I shook my head as I gazed at my own hand. "So maybe don't try to punch someone."

"I'll keep that in mind the next time I try." Josie joked. "Seriously though, you okay?"

"Aside from trying to learn to do things with my left hand, I'm doing okay."

It was now Monday, two days after going to the hospital and getting my cast. I've really taken having two working hands for granted. Didn't realize how much I use both on a daily bases when I can't.

"I bet getting dressed is a joy."

"You have no idea." Today was the first time I've gotten dressed without Landon there to help. Yesterday I just laid around in my PJ's and didn't have to worry about needing help changing. Landon did offer to help today but both of us were needed at work and the last thing I was going to do was become dependent on a man. No, thank you.

It may have taken me more than half the time it usually does to get ready but I did it.

"I know your wedding is this weekend and my cast won't really go with the bridesmaid dresses." Josie instantly cut me off.

"Don't even start. I don't give a shit about the dresses." The look she sent me had my lips twitching. She couldn't be scary even if she tried. "As long as you are okay I don't care."

"Well thank you." And I meant it. I don't know what I've done to deserve a great friend like Josie. "You're finishing up some stuff and taking the rest of the week off right?" I asked, changing the subject.

"Yeah just wanted to submit the last of the photos for the next issue. I'm meeting Evelyn later to make sure the caterers are ready for Friday."

"Are you ready? Friday's the big day."

"Yeah." Josie didn't sound convincing at all. Putting my phone down I gave her my full attention.

"What's wrong."

"Nothing. Nothing."

"Yeah I don't believe that for a second." I gave her a look.

"It's just..." Josie worried her lip between her teeth. "What if Wyatt isn't ready? We've known each other two years but is it too soon." I could see her mind overthinking big time. I expected nothing less when a wedding is just days away.

"Jo." I waited until she was looking at me. "You and Wyatt are perfect together. You two were literally meant for one another. There is no way Wyatt would be second guessing right now. He loves you." I made sure to look right into her eyes as I emphasized every word.

"If anyone can make marriage work it's you two. I'm not going to say marriage is easy, its not. Nothing is. But you two love each other enough to always work through it."

"I just don't want to lose him." Josie whispered.

"You won't. Trust me. I know a thing or two about losing someone. You're never going to lose Wyatt, that guy is sickeningly in love with you."

"He really is, isn't he."

"It's quite nauseating." I said it with a smile so she knew I was joking. "Don't worry everything is going to go amazingly. I mean it's Tasha for crying out loud." Josie laughed at my words.

"Very true. I'm afraid she's going to yell at one of the workers if something goes wrong."

"Oh definitely." The two of us shared a laugh.

"Thank you Lyd." Josie reached around and squeezed my left hand.

"Always. Now go finish up and get out of here. You have a wedding to get ready for."

"Yes, Ma'am." Looking lighter than she died earlier, Josie stood up and left my office with a wave.

I sat back in my chair as I rubbed my aching chest with my hand. I hated that Josie's worrying about her wedding. I know Wyatt would never leave her at the alter. Wyatt would rather chop off his legs than be away from her, let alone not marry her.

All of it was bringing up past memories I'd rather forget about. Memories I've spent the last six years trying to erase and forget about. Josie didn't know she hit a soft spot just a moment ago.

Truly not wanting to think about it I gave myself a moment. Once the pain in my chest eased I grabbed my phone and got back to work. Nothing gets your mind off of things better than work.

* * * * * ** * * * * * * *

"Yes, that would be amazing." I said into the phone later that afternoon.

"We are looking forward to putting the magazine in our stores." I had to refrain of squealing as the lady on the other side of the phone kept talking.

"Sounds great. I'll talk to you soon."

As soon as I hung up I leaned back in my chair with a huge smile. We just landed another huge store chain that wants to carry our magazine. They were going to put them right up by the check outs so everyone has to see them as they pay.

Unable to help myself I let out a little squeal and danced in my chair. That is the third store chain we've made deals with in the last month. The fact they were all paying us to give them the magazine and then we get a percentage of sales was...I couldn't even begin to think about how much money that would mean for us. I was finally going to be able to give everyone raises and hire more people.

"I take it it's been a good day?" A familiar voice suddenly said from my doorway. I lifted my head and grinned at Landon.

"Very good day." Sitting up I looked him over as he leaned against the door frame. I wasn't expecting him to drop by but the sight of him made my heart rate pick up. "What are you doing here?"

"Thought I'd see if you wanted to get something to eat." There was a hint of hesitancy in his voice as he spoke.

"Like a...date?" He was quiet for a moment before he nodded.

"Yes a date." Landon looked at me as if he was preparing for me to say no. If he had asked me a few months ago I would have. But now...now things have changed. After having a good day all I wanted to do was tell Landon about it.

"I'd love to." The smile that graced his face at my words made my own lips stretch. He really was beautiful when he smiled. "Just let me close this down."

"No rush."

As I saved and closed down my computer I felt Landon's eyes on me the whole time. He stayed leaning against the doorframe, looking every bit a girls fantasy. His large frame taking up the whole space.

Grabbing my phone and purse I pushed away from my desk, moving around my desk. As soon as I got in front of Landon he reached out. One hand grabbing my hip to pull me close and the other grabbing my chin placing a kiss on my lips. I sighed against him soaking in the kiss.

"How's the hand?" He asked, pulling back a few moments later. I felt a bit dazed, the side effect of Landon Boone's kisses. It took me a second to answer.

"It's okay. Kinda hurts." Which wasn't a lie. I've been trying not to take too many pain pills through out the day. One of them makes my head feel weird and the last thing I wanted was a foggy head at work.

"Have you taken your pills today?"

"Not yet." The disappointed look on his face made me laugh under my breath. "I will when we eat."

"I'm going to have to call you every few hours and make sure you take them aren't I."

"Who says I'd listen." I retorted.

"Oh you will." I smirk at the glint in his eyes. "Ready to go?"

"Yeah."

Moving to the side Landon placed his hand on my lower back as I lead us through the office. It was only 4 o'clock but the office was empty since everyone left earlier.

"So where are we going?" I asked after he helped me into his truck and he started pulling away from the curb.

"It's a surprise." I narrowed my eyes at him a little.

"If you try to murder me just know I took a Taekwondo class once."

"Why do women always jump to murder? You guys are obsessed with killing."

"You don't sit and watch Dateline?"

"No?" He looked over at me genuinely confused as to why he would.

"We are going to watch one after dinner. I have a few in my DVR."

"You record a show about murderers?"

"Yeah." I said with a shrug. Landon opened and shut his mouth a few times before shaking his head.

"Women are so...."

"Amazing, I know." I smirked in his direction. "How was work?" I asked after a few moments.

"Good. Starting to finalize the vendors for Hockey for Kids and got the okay from Coach Barnum for the guys to come and be apart of it with the Playoffs starting."

"That sounds great. The article about it will be printed in two weeks so that should bring quite a bit of people."

"Speaking of the magazine." Landon looked over at me. "You seemed pretty happy earlier." I turned in my seat a little so I could look at him.

"I had just gotten off the phone with one of Toronto's major store chains. They want to put the Magazine in all 60 stores!"

"Holy shit, seriously?"

"Yeah. It's the third major store chain that as agreed to have the magazine. They will put them right at the front near the check outs so everyone can see them. So deciding to do two issues a month is actually smart because it means more people will buy copies. Doing multiple issues a month is rarely done because it takes a lot of man power and time so us doing that makes us one of the few in the world." I babbled on. "It's going to be insanely busy for the first little bit but with the money from the stores I should be able to hire more people and give everyone working raises."

Landon came to a stop at a red light, looking over at me with a soft look on his face.

"What?"

"You're pretty amazing, you know that?" My cheeks instantly flamed at his words. But rather than shy away from the compliment I sat up straighter.

"Of course." Landon let out a laugh at my words. He reached out and squeezed my thigh.

"That's my blondie."

* * * * * * * * * * * * *

"So tell me." I leaned forward, looking at Landon across the table.

"Hmm." Landon was relaxed back in his chair, bringing his beer to his lips.

We were currently sitting in a cute Italian restaurant, a few blocks from downtown Toronto. The cute mom and pop restaurant was spectacular. It was a cute little place that probably held 50 people at most.

As soon as I tasted the garlic knots I was sold. Don't even get me started on how amazing the risotto was. Part of me wanted to ask the owners if they'd like to be in the magazine but seeing the way the owners went from table to table, talking to every customer, I knew not to ask. I've seen how a feature in the magazine helps business and have no doubt this place would suddenly be filled with people. But if that happened what was a cute, easy going, family business would turn into something way bigger. Something I don't think the owners wanted.

"Why hasn't there been any girlfriends?" I asked, the one glass of wine I've had making my lips loose. I excepted Landon's eyes to widened at my sudden question but he almost looked like he was excepting me to ask.

"There's been a few." He replied, vaguely as he took a pull of his beer.

"Come on, spill the tea."

"There's nothing to tell." I knew that was bullshit. There's definitely a reason he's against relationships. One night a few weeks ago while we were recovering from round two he told me the last thing he wanted was a relationship. That they only end up breaking. At the time I had full heartedly agreed.

"I don't believe that." I said over the rim of my wine. I stayed quiet waiting for him to answer. It was probably rude of me to push him to answer but I wanted to know what happened to break his heart. From one shattered heart to another I knew the signs.

"Fine." He sighed, putting his beer down. "My last real relationship was four years ago. I was still working as an accountant when I met her. I was at a bar with some of Wyatt's teammates when she approached me." Landon stared straight ahead as he talked. "There was something about her that just drew me in instantly. We connected on so many levels, or at least I thought we did, and before I knew it we started dating."

My chest pinched at the way he said it. Obviously it ended horribly but it sounded like it still hurt to think about. Something I knew all too well.

"We'd been dating six months and I was going to tell her I was falling in love with her. Planned out a whole date, got flowers, made a reservation at a fancy restaurant. Anyways, as soon as I told her that I was in love with her she decided to tell me she didn't actually like me. She was just using me to get close to Wyatt."

I felt my heart sink into my stomach at his words. No. As if reading my thoughts Landon nodded.

"Wyatt had just won the Championship and she wanted to be with someone who had status, not a lowly accountant. Her words by the way." He said it so bitterly that all I wanted to do was pull him into a hug. "Ended up leaving me at the restaurant and never heard from her again."

No wonder he was closed off. He finally got close to someone only for them to use him to get close to his brother. This woman literally used him, made him fall in love with her, only to throw it back in his face.

"That's my sob story." Landon said as he chugged the rest of his beer.

"I'm sorry." I whispered. Now I felt like shit making him tell me. "I shouldn't have pushed you to tell me."

"It's fine." It clearly wasn't, not by the hard look on his face as he was forced to remember it.

"Lan-" I went to say but suddenly the owner of the restaurant appeared at our table. Our conversation was pushed to the side as the older woman asked how our food was. I wanted to say more to Landon about it but as the conversation with the woman dragged on my window closed.

By time the owner walked off our conversation from earlier was forgotten and pushed aside. Instead we spent the next half hour talking about Mateo, the guys, and the wedding.

"Is Wyatt's coach single by any chance?" I randomly asked as the two of us stood up, ready to leave.

"Got a thing for older guys?" Landon quirked an eyebrow.

"Obviously, the older the better." He snorted at my remark. "But seriously, is he?"

"I believe so. I think he got divorced years ago." Landon reached out, putting this hand on my lower back as he steered us towards the door. The action was so simple but god did I love when he did that. "Why?"

"Nothing really. I just-" I started to say as we stepped out of the restaurant right as another couple tried to walk through. I instantly froze as I caught sight of the dark brown hair and brown eyes. Everything around me narrowed into a tunnel at the sight of the couple in front of me.

"Lydia?" That voice. The voice was enough to make my body go rigid. I could barely register Landon looking at the people in front of us. I don't know how I got my vocal cords to work but somehow I did.

"Jared." Not in a million years did I think I'd see his face again. My eyes took in the guy in front of me who I once knew better than myself.

His brown hair was longer than when I saw it last. He was sporting an ugly looking mustache, which was ironic considering he could never grow a beard. The guy I once thought was tall and fit now looked scrawny with a bit of a beer belly under his shirt. Those brown eyes I use to stare into were looking at me like a kid does at a candy store.

I forced my eyes to look away from him to look at the woman on his arm. I expected to see the familiar woman but when I saw the tall redhead I felt my eyes widened. Huh.

"Oh wow it's been a long time." Jared said, as if I wasn't internally freaking the fuck out. "You look..." He ran his eyes over me. "amazing."

"Thanks." I barely managed to get out. There was so many emotions running through me right now I could barely think straight.

"Oh sorry. This is Becca. Becca this is Lydia, we were friends in Uni." Jared introduced. As soon as the word 'friends' came out of his mouth my eyes narrowed. Anger coming front and center. We were NOT just friends and he knows that. The balls he had to stand here, six years later, and refer to us as friends and not what we truly were.

"Nice to meet you." She greeted me with a smile. Inwardly I was glad she wasn't who I thought she was or else I'd be punching her right now regardless of my hurt hand or not.

"And you are?" Jared turned to ask Landon, looking him up and down with narrowed eyes. The way he looked at Landon had me taking a step closer to his side.

"Landon." Landon's tone was enough for me to know he glaring at Jared. When the two shook hands, clearly a pissing contest to see who was the strongest, Jared pulled away subtly shaking his hand out. That shouldn't make me smirk but it did.

"I'm glad I ran into you. I'd love if we could meet and catch up." God he really was daft. Has he forgotten everything he's put me through? The anger inside of me bubbled up and I didn't even try to stop myself.

"You're fucking kidding me right?" The voice that came out of my mouth made both he and Becca flinch. "You think I'd want to meet and 'catch up'?" The laugh that left my throat was anything but nice. "Not a chance in hell."

"Wha-" Becca tried to say as if she was going to jump in and defend her boyfriend.

"You are the biggest piece of shit I've ever met Jared. You really think after six years you can come up to me and act like you didn't do what you did?" The words were pouring out of my mouth. "Nice to see Cass finally came to her senses and left you. If I was you," I turned to Becca. "I'd get as far away from him as you can."

I gave Jared one last look, scrunching my nose up at the fact I use to think he was the most attractive guy on the planet.

"Hope you live a miserable life." Not bothering to waste anymore words on him I turned on my heel and headed for Landon's truck, leaving the couple staring after me in silence. The only reason I knew Landon was following me was the truck unlocking seconds before I ripped the door open and climbed inside. I didn't bother waiting for him to help me as I slammed it shut.

My entire body was shaking as Landon got in and started the truck. From the corner of my eye I could see his mouth opening and closing as he tried to say something before he finally closed it. Good, cause I don't trust what will come out of my mouth right now.

Without a word he pulled away from the restaurant and headed towards my apartment. I sat there replaying what just happened. How my perfectly good night was ruined by a piece of shit.

Right now all I can feel is anger. Anger that I've bottled up for the last six years. Anger I've held in since the last time I saw Jared. Later it will hit me that I ran into the man I spent a good chunk of my years with but right now all I could focus on was that anger brewing inside of me.

The ride to my apartment was silent as was the elevator ride up. As soon as I walked into my apartment I threw my purse on the counter, clenching my jaw so tight that it popped.

"Lyd." Landon finally spoke. I shook my head as I started to pace the length of my living room. I needed to move to get some of this anger out. "Lydia what the hell just happened."

"Nothing." I snapped. I don't mean to snap at him but I couldn't help myself.

"Clearly it was something. Who was that guy?"

"He's a piece of shit nobody."

"Lydia stop and look at me." Hearing the undertone of anger I forced myself to stop pacing and look at him. "Tell me what is going on."

I clenched my teeth together. I need to tell him. I have to tell him. My plan of pushing it off was now null and void after running into Jared. When I didn't say anything after a minute gave a small nod.

"He's your ex isn't he." My eyes snapped to his. "It's pretty obvious with how you're acting and what you said to him."

"He is."

"What did he do?" I knew I had to tell him but I couldn't get my mouth to open and say it. I've never told a single person what happened six years ago. None of the girls even know. Landon deserved to know, especially after witnessing what he just did but the words wouldn't come.

"Its..."

"Lydia you can tell me." Landon stepped towards me, eyes roaming my face. "You can tell me. You know I'll never judge you for your past."

"I know it's just...it's not that easy." I shook my head. I don't even know how to tell him. I've spent the last six years shoving it all down, not wanting to think about it for even a second.

Seeing Jared has made it feel like everything around me is falling. I never wanted to see him again but there he was. At the same place Landon and I were at, looking at me like nothing happened. Like he wasn't the one to break me.

"Lydia," Landon cupped the sides of my face. "You're holding back, just tell me. We can fix whatever it is together." The pleading in his tone just made tears leak out of my eyes.

God I wanted to. I wanted to tell him, to let him in. To make it so I wasn't alone anymore.

"It's...complicated." I finally got out. They were clearly the wrong words. I could physically see the walls around Landon go up, his face going hard.

"So you get me to tell you about my shitty ex but as soon as I ask about yours you clam up? It's okay to poke and prod my past but not yours?"

"That's not-"

"That's what it seems like Lydia. You want to know everything about me but I get to know nothing about you." Anger was written all over his face as he stared at me. "I know something happened to make you this way, why won't you just tell me." He made it sound so easy but it wasn't. The past was painful. There's a reason I never talk about it. There's a reason I don't let myself close to others.

"I can't...I..." My brain was shouting at me to tell him. To just say it but that fear that if he knew he'd leave me too. That I'd lose yet another person I've fallen for.

"I'm not going to be the only one putting my heart on the line Lydia." The look on his face making my heart fall into my stomach. When I still didn't say anything he closed his eyes for a second. "So you either tell me or I'm walking out that door." It was probably suppose to be a threat but the hurt in his voice and face made it more of a plea.

The thought of him leaving felt like a dagger to the heart. I didn't want him to leave but as I opened my mouth to tell him I stopped. It was like my entire body was fighting against me. No matter what I did I couldn't get the words out. Standing there, mouth opening and closing, was all Landon needed.

"Thought so." Landon shook his head, looking at with such hurt and disappointment. He turned on his heel and walked out of my apartment. The sight of his back made my feet unglue from the floor.

"Landon!" I cried, running after him. He can't leave. I gripped the back of his shirt with the tips of my fingers, ignoring the pain in my hurt hand as I did so. "Landon."

He stopped but only to look down at me over his shoulder.

"Figure out what you want Lydia."

His shirt slipped my fingers as he opened the staircase door and walked away. I stood there, tearing rolling down my cheeks, as Landon slipped through my fingers. 

♡ ♡ ♡ ♡ ♡ ♡ ♡ ♡♡

Poor Landon. I can't imagine being used just so someone could get close to your brother. No wonder he was against relationships. 

Also what do we think happened between Lydia and Jared???